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Author: 


McElheny,  Victor  K. 


Title 


Analysis  of  the  Joint 
report  on  foods  and. 

Place: 

[New  York] 

Date: 

[1917] 


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a 


Analysis  of  the  Joint  Report  on 
Foods  and  Markets  of  Governor 
Whitman's  Market  Commission 
and   Others  :         :         :        :         : 


BY 

Victor  K.  McElheny,  Jr., 

President  of 

THE  FRUIT  AUCTION  COMPANY, 

204  Franklin  Street, 

New  York  City. 


CONTENTS. 


W^ 


I.  Introduction. 

(A)  Views  of  Agricultural  Econo- 
mists. 

(B)  Views  of  Business  Men. 

n.  Aids  to  Clear  Thinking  in  Consid- 
ering  the   Report. 

(A)  Refutation  of  Sophistry. 

(B)  High  Cost  of  All  Commodities. 

(C)  Economic    Laws    Govern    the 
Distribution  of  Foodstuffs, 

(D)  Recent  History  of  Foodstuffs- 
Investigations. 

(a)  Gov.    Dix's    Commission. 

(b)  Mayor     Gay  nor' s     Market 
Commission. 

(c)  Mayor  Mitchel's  Food  Sup- 
ply Committee. 

(d)  Wicks    Legislative     Com- 
mittee. 

(e)  Gov.     Whitman's     Market 
Commission. 

(f)  State  Department  of  Foods 
and  Markets. 

m.  Alleged  Causes  of  the  High  Cost 
of  Foodstuffs  as  Set  Forth  in  the 
"Joint  Report." 

(A)  Purely  Illusory  Causes. 

(a)  Lack  of  a  Comprehensive 
Market   System. 

(b)  Lack      of     Transportation 
and  Terminals. 

(c)  Lack  of  Municipal  Whole- 
sale Terminal  Markets. 

(1)  Alleged  Savings. 

(2)  Cost. 

(3)  Details  of  Construction. 


(B) 


<• 

k^ 


(4)  Handling  and  Conges- 
tion. 

(5)  Cartage. 

(6)  Alleged  Self-sustaining 

Features  of  these  Mar- 
kets. 

(7)  Waste. 

(8)  Fundamental  Obstacle 
to  the  Proposed  Mar- 
kets. 

(9)  Present  Wholesale  Ter- 
minal Markets. 

(d)  Laws  as  to  Monopolies. 

Tangible  Causes  of  the  High 
Cost  of  Foodstuffs  as  Stated 
by  "Joint  Report." 

(a)  Excessive  Exportation  and 
Short  Crops. 

(b)  Ignorance  of  the  Public  on 
the  Question  of  Foodstuffs. 

(c)  Failure  of  the  Public  to 
Act  up  to  the  Light  that 
it  Has. 


IV.  Remedy    for    the    High    Cost    of 
Livingv 

(A)  No    New   Legislation   Needed. 

(B)  Encourage    Private    Business. 

(C)  Education. 

(D)  Action  by  the   Public. 

V.  A  popular  Misconception. 

VI.  A  Word  as  to  New  York  City. 

VII.  Efficiency  of  Present  Methods  of 
Food  Distribution. 


VIII.  Conclusion. 


tfl 


I.    INTRODUCTION. 

The  ** Joint  Report''  of  Governor  Whitman's  Market  Commis- 
sion and  others  is  so  revolutionary  in  its  recommendations,  direct 
and  implied,  as  to  the  future  economic  policy  of  the  State,  so 
socialistic  in  its  aims  and  so  fertile  with  possibilities  of  huge 
State  expenditures  that  it  is  the  duty  of  both  the  Legislature  and 
the  citizens  to  consider  well  before  the  State  takes  this  leap  to 
certain  failure. 

The  public  needs  to  beware!  Those  favorable  to  the  views  ex- 
pressed in  the  report  have  begun  to  accelerate  public  opinion. 
One  flagrant  instance  is  the  following :  Teachers  in  the  pubUc 
schools  of  this  city  have  been  instructed  to  ask  parents  to  come 
to  the  school  buildings  on  certain  evenings  to  learn  how  to  take 
action  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  bills  to  be  introduced  in  the 
Legislature  to  put  into  force  the  recommendations  of  this  report. 

(A)  Views  of  Agricultural  Economists:  Professor  Edwin  G 
Nourse  in  his  book  (recently  published)  entitled  '^Agricultural 
Economics"  under  the  heading  *' Marketing  and  Market  Prob- 
lems"  very  aptly  says: 

''Here  lies  the  happy-hunting-ground  of  Reformers." 

Professor  L.  H.  D.  Weld  of  Yale  University,  author  of  the  book 
(also  recently  published)  entitled  "The  Marketing  of  Farm  Pro- 
ducts" in  an  article  entitled  "Popular  Illusions  Regarding  the 
Price  of  Eggs"  printed  in  the  NEW  YORK  TIMES  of  the  issue 
of  December  17,  1916,  uses  this  language : 

"Apparently  the  fundamental  truths  (regarding  the  sub- 
ject  of  marketing)  that  have  been  established  have  not  yet 
had  time  to  reach  many  of  the  foremost  agitators  whose 
names  are  appearing  in  the  paper  every  day."  •  *  * 

Also  in  closing  the  article  Professor  Weld  very  cogently  says : 

"Enough  has  been  said  to  show  what  serious  misconceptons 
the  public  has  with  regard  to  the  problems  of  egg  prices 
There  are  many  other  just  as  serious  fallacies  abroad  in  the 
land  with  regard  to  other  branches  of  the  marketing  system. 

(3) 


'.    t 


Let  us  hope  that  no  remedial  legislation  w,ll  be  Wted 
until  the  problem  has  really  been  studied  sc.entif Ically  and 
passionately  and  until  some  of  the  funda.uentals  of  mar- 
keting  and  market  prices  are  better  understood. 

I  could  quote  similar  views  by  other  ^'^'^^^^'''''^'''^f ''fZt 
mists  but  brevity  forbids.    What  they  would  say  would  be  but 
riaSve.    ThI  foregoing  quotations  strikingly jepresen^^^^^^^^^ 
almost  unanimous  opinions  of  the  economists  as  to  the  vagaries 
proposed  to  be  enacted  into  legislation  by  those  ^gnor^^^t ;/  ^he 
Sect  of  marketing.    Those  are  the  views  of  Ihe  real  students 
By  that  I  niean  the  men  that  are  educated  in  the  fundamentals  o 
marketing  just  as  the  doctor,  lawyer,  the  engineer,  etc.,  etc.,  are 
Tducaterin  their  respective  professions.    They  -e  -t  -en  who 
play  with  the  intricate  subject  of  marketing  and  d^^oje  their 
Lfous  energies  to  and  earn  their  livelihood  m  other  walks  of  life. 
(B)    Views  of  Business  Men:    Now,  what  is  the  view  of  the 
business  man  who  has  had  actual  ezperience  i'^^th',  ma*f  ^^ 
of  foodstuifs'    The  writer  has  been  engaged  in  the  marketing  ot 
is  ft  Public  Auction  in  New  York  City  for  many  years. 
During  that  period  he  has  observed  the  marketing  of  other  food- 
stuffs    The  writer  regrets  to  differ  with  the  State  Commissioner 
of  Foods  and  Market?,  as  he  does  totally,  with  respect  to  Muni- 
cipal Wholesale  Terminal  Markets.     The  writer  has  had  very 
pleasant  business  dealings  with  him  and  can  attest  to  his  energy 
Sigh-mindedness  and  sincerity.     The  writer  see.  that  there  is  a 
large  portion  of  the  public  as  well  as  many  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature who  in  good  faith  desire  a  knowledge  of  the  facts.    They 
are  bewildered  by  the  extravagant  claims  made  as  they  appear 
from  day  to  day  in  the  public  press.    They  are  bewildered  by  a 
report  such  as  the  report  of  the  Governor's  Market  Commission. 
We  all  know  how  occupied  the  ordinary  business  man  is  and  how 
prone  he  is  to  treat  such  reports  with  contemptuous  indifference. 
He  silently  pays  the  unnecessary  and  wasteful  extra  tax  caused 
bv  the  follies.    The  writer  feeling  strongly  that  the  actual  facts 
should  be  set  forth  believes  it  to  be  his  duty  to  issue  this  pamphlet 
and  give  the  views  of  men  of  actual  experience.    The  view  of  the 
men  experienced  in  the  distribution  of  foodstuffs  is  all  the  more 
necessary  because  of  the  ignorance  of  those  attempting  to  revolu- 
tionize methods.    Mr.  George  W.  Perkins  on  Friday,  January  26, 
1917    in  addressing  a  meeting  of  Wholesale  Food  Distributors 
made  the  amazing  admission  that  this  was  one  line  of  business  of 
which  he  knew  nothing. 

(4) 


n.    AIDS  TO  CLEAR  THINKING  IN  CONSIDERING 

THE  REPORT. 

(A)     Refutation  of  Sophistry :    Mr.  Balfour  has  well  said  that, 

"No  stable  system  can  be  built  upon  reasons  which  are 
essentially  and  hopelessly  defective." 

The  main  reason  given  in  the  report  for  the  acceptance  of  its 
views  IS  unsound  and  fallacious. 

I  quote  from  the  report : 

"We  also  have  two  Public  Service  Commissions  to  look 
after  the  people's  interests  in  the  matter  of  transportation. 
Yet  It  is  estimated  that  but  10  percent  of  the  average  man's 
income  goes  for  transportation  while  upwards  of  40  percent 
of  his  income  goes  for  food."  •  •  • 

The  report  then  proceeds: 

"If  experience  has  shown  that  the  public's  interests  in  the 
matter  of  health,  education  and  transportation  need  to  be 
safeguarded  by  the  State,  through  supervision  and  regula- 
tion, does  it  not  follow  that  in  the  all  important  matter  of 
their  food  supply  the  people's  interests  should  also  be  safe- 
guarded by  the  State  in  a  similar  manner."  •  •  • 

In  another  place  in  the  report  "water  supply"  and  "highways" 
are  used  similarly  to  the  way  "health"  "education"  and  "trans- 
portation" are  used  in  the  above  quotation. 

You  will  note  the  language  is  very  broad.  It  recommends  flatly 
that  the  State  adopt  toward  the  production  and  distribution  of  aU 
foodstuffs  the  identical  policy  that  the  State  adopted  at  the  time 
of  Its  foundation  toward  those  weU  recognized  pubUc  functions. 
highways,"  "health,"  "transportation,"  "education"  and 
water  supply. "  Heretofore  the  State  has  scrupulously  abstained 
from  entering  the  domain  of  private  enterprise..  Now  we  are 
adnsed  to  turn  to  socialism.  The  difficulty  with  the  argument 
used  IS  that  it  proves  too  much.  If  it  be  followed  logically  aU 
private  business  should  be  placed  under  the  control  and  super- 
vision of  Public  Service  Commissions.  If  40%  of  the  family 
budget  should  be  placed  under  State  supervision  and  control 
Why  not  the  remaining  60%  of  the  family  budget?  Certainly  the 
Items  coming  under  the  remaining  60%  are  just  as  necessary 
for  the  family  welfare  as  the  40%.  Let  me  enumerate  the  items 
that  make  up  the  family  budget : 

(5) 


II 


) 


it 


Foods, 
Rent, 

Clothing  and  Shoes,  ) 

Fuel  and  light,  ) 

Provisions    for    sickness    and  ) 

accident,  dental,  surgical  and  ) 

other  care  necessary  for  the  ) 

establishment  and  preserva-  ) 


40% 


Let  me  enumerate  some  commodities  whose  prices  have  risen 


)  60% 

) 
) 
) 

) 
) 


tion  of  sound  health. 
Insurance, 
Recreation, 
Carfares, 
Furniture  and  furnishings. 

Burial, 

Education,  books,  newspapers,  ) 
Church  and  benevolences,  ) 

Incidentals.  '  , 

Not  even  the  signers  of  the  report  of  Governor  Wh.tman  s 
Market  Commission  will  deny  that  the  items  m  the  60%  are  as 
necessary  to  man's  reasonable  existence  as  the  40%. 

Are  we  prepared  to  initiate  State  supervision  and  regulation  of 
an  manufacture,  production  a.td  distribution  by  takmgtlie  tre- 
mendous leap,  now,  of  placing  40%  of  the  family  budget  under 
State  supervision  and  regulation? 

Let  me  further  bring  the  reasoning  of  the  report  to  a  reductio 
absu  dum  The  production  of  foodstuffs  is  fully  as  import- 
Sras  their  distribution.  Agricultural  implements  are  essential 
?o  the  production  of  foodstuffs.  Why  not  place  the  manufacture 
and  distribution  of  all  agricultural  implements  under  the  regula- 
tion  and  supervision  of  the  State?  Would  all  the  members  of 
Governor    Whitman's    Market    Commission    agree    to    such    a 

proposal?  -,  .    X  4.  n 

The  main  argument  upon  which  the  report  is  based  is  totally 
unsound  as  I  have  shown.  Let  me  again  repeat  the  quotation 
given  above : 

"No  stable  system  can  be  buUt  on  reasons  which  arc  es- 
sentially and  hopelessly  defective." 
CB-)    Hiffh  Cost  Of  all  Commodities:    A  second  aid  to  clear 
thhiking  is  to  recall  to  your  mind  that  the  prices  of  practically 
all  articles  of  commerce  have  risen  fully  as  much  as  the  price  of 
foodstuffs. 

(6) 


Steel 

Machinery  of  all  kinds 

Clothing 

Medicines 

Building  materials 


Cotton 

Leather 

Rents 

Chemicals 

Oils 


Copper 

Zinc 

Shoes 

Coal  and  coke 

Textiles 


Labor  (if  it  be  proper  to  class  it  as  a  commodity) 
Other  metals. 

I  might  enumerate  fully  95%  of  all  articles  used  in  commerce. 
Now  it  is  not  for  a  moment  suggested  even  by  Governor  Whit- 
man's  Market  Commission  that  the  fundamental  cause  of  the  rise 
in  price  of  these  articles  other  than  foodstuffs  is  due  to  the  lack 
of  a  Public  Service  Commission  to  regulate  their  manufacture, 
production  and  distribution.    Remember  in  this  connection  that 
the  Commission  solemnly  says  that  the  fundamental  cause  of  the 
high  cost  of  foodstuffs  is  the  lack  of  a  broadened  State  Market 
Department.    If  I  were  to  follow  out  this  reasoning  and  suggest 
that  the  rise  in  price  of  these  articles  of  commerce  other  than 
foodstuffs  is  due  to  the  lack  of  State  supervision  and  regulation 
of  their  manufacture,  production  and  distribution  my  suggestion 
would  be  considered  very  silly.    Likewise  it  is  just  as  foolish  to 
say  that  the  lack  of  **a  comprehensive  Market  Department"  is 
the  fundamental  cause  of  the  rise  in  the  price  of  foodstuffs. 
We  have  the  phenomena  of  high  prices  of  all  articles  of  commerce. 
Some  of  the  causes  are  patent.    The  Governor's  Commission  has 
named  some  of  these  as  I  will  later  point  out.    Other  causes  are 
deep  and  obscure,  for  the  subject  is  very  intricate.    If  the  remedy 
proposed  by  the  Governor's  Commission  is  not  applicable  to 
aU  groups  it  surely  is  not  applicable  to  one  of  the  groups ! 

(C)    Economic  Laws  Govern  the  Distribution  of  Foodstuffs: 

A  third  aid  to  clear  thinking  is  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
same  economic  laws  govern  the  production  and  distribution  of 
foodstuffs  as  govern  other  industries.  Mr.  Perkins  in  the  address 
above  mentioned  found  himself  in  the  anomalous  position  of  advis- 
ing the  business  men  of  the  Food  Distributing  Industry  as  to 
what  they  should  do  while  at  the  same  time  stating  that  he  knew 
nothing  about  the  business.  He  recognized  his  position  and  en- 
deavored to  explain  it  by  saying  that  he  is  a  business  man  and 
that  the  same  principles  apply  to  all  lines  of  business.  That  state- 
ment IS  sound.  Let  me  ask  Mr.  Perkins  this,  why  legislate  differ- 
ently for  the  Food  Industry  than  he  would  for  other  Industries, 

(7) 


when  the  same  Economic  Laws  govern  all?  Why  not  be  just  far 
and  logical  and  advise  that  all  private  Industry  be  subjected  to 
the  same  legislation  that  he  advises  for  the  Food  Industry  ?  And 
conve'ely,  as  it  is  not  intended  to  bring  all  private  enterprise 
within  the  purview  of  this  proposed  legislation,  why  have  any 
legislation?  Do  not  forget  that  if  laws  are  passed  and  action 
taken  contrary  to  economic  law  as  is  proposed  in  the  Joint  Re- 
port" the  result  will  be  failure  and  the  money  used  to  carry  on 
the  experiments  will  be  wasted. 

(m  Recent  History  of  Foodstuffs  Investigations :  As  a  fourth 
aid  to  clear  thinking  on  this  subject  I  will  briefly  name  the  Com- 
missions and  Committees  that  have  recently  "investigated  the 
subject  in  hand  and  I  will  briefly  state  their  conclusions: 

(a)— GOVERNOR  DIX'S  COMMISSION. 

The  Commitee  on  Markets,  Prices  and  Costs  of  the  New  York 
State  Food  Investigating  Commission  appointed  by  Governor  Dix 
made  its  report  under  date  of  August,  1912.  Its  most  uaportant 
findings  were  as  follows : 

(a)  That  the  railroad  and  steamship  terminals  on  the  lower 
west  side  of  Manhattan  Borough  be  improved.  That  the 
improvements  would  probably  not  cost  exceeding  $2,000  - 
000  00  in  all  and  that  these  improvc^ments  could  be  paid 
for  out  of  private  funds,  that  is  by  the  railroad  and 
steamship  companies  having  the  lease. 

(b)  It  found  that  the  total  cost  of  wholesaling,  including  all 
handling  and  profits,  did  not  exceed  10%  and  that  some 
wholseale  units  operated  at  a  total  cost  of  not  exceeding 

4%. 

(c)  It  recommended  that  two  hundred  large  retail  stores  be 
organized  throughout  New  York  City  at  a  cost  of  $200,- 
000.00  each. 


(d)  It  opposed  Municipal  Wholesale  Torminal  Markets.  The 
promoters  of  this  wasteful  scheme  of  Municipal  Whole- 
sale Terminal  Markets  state  that  this  Commission  found 
against  one  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Market  for 
all  of  New  York,  but  not  against  one  or  more  Muncipal 
Wholesale  Terminal  Markets  for  eacli  borough.  In  answer 
to  this  I  assert  that  no  one  can  read  that  report  without 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  squarely  against  Muni- 

(8) 


cipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets.  If  that  committee  or 
any  member  of  it  has  since  changed  his  mind  let  him  come 
out  and  publicly  state  his  reasons  for  his  change  of 
opinion. 

(e)  The  report  is  very  strong  in  its  omissions.  It  failed  to 
say  that  the  fundamental  cause  of  the  high  cost  of  food- 
stuffs was  the  lack  of  a  State  Market  Department. 

(b)— MAYOR  GAYNOR'S  MARKET  COMMISSION. 

The  next  commission  to  report  on  marketing  was  Mayor 
Gaynor's  Market  Commission  composed  of  Mayor  Mitchell  (then 
President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen),  Mr.  George  McAneny  and 
Mr.  Cyrus  C.  Miller.  Mr.  Miller  was  Chairman  of  this  Commis- 
sion. Their  report  was  issued  under  date  of  December  31,  1913. 
They  recommended  the  appointment  for  New  York  City  of  five 
Market  Commissioner's;  also  the  erection  of  elaborate  and  expen- 
sive Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets,  one  for  each  of  the 
Ave  Boroughs  of  New  York  City.  They  estimated  (I  should  say 
m  guessed)  that  the  markets  that  they  recommended  for  two  of  the 
iive  Boroughs,  that  is  for  Manhattan  Borough  and  the  Bronx 
Borough  would  cost  respectively  $8,500,000.00  and  $10,000,000.00 
or  $18,500,000.00  for  the  two  without  the  cost  of  raUroad  siding's 
or  the  land  for  the  sidings.  This  Commission  fathered  the  elab- 
orate  and  intricate  Pollock  Bill  to  permit  the  erection  of  these 
Wholesale  Terminal  Markets  which  bill  passed  the  Legislature 
early  in  1914.  Mayor  Mitchell  subsequently  had  to  veto  this  bill 
because  of  its  serious  defects  and  because  the  business  men  of 
New  York  City  in  all  lines  rose  up  and  demanded  its  veto. 

(c)— MAYOR  MITCHELL'S  POOD  SUPPLY 

COMMITTEE. 

The  next  committee  to  study  the  high  prices  of  foodstuffs  was 
a  committee  appointed  by  Mayor  Mitchell  in  August,  1914.  The 
Chairman  of  this  committee  is  Mr.  George  W.  Perkins.  This  com- 
mittee presented  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  of 
New  York  City  for  its  approval  early  in  1915  a  proposed  bill  to  be 
presented  to  the  Legislature  by  which  bill  the  City  of  New  York 
was  to  go  into  the  Food  Distributing  Business.  The  opposition  by 
business  men  in  all  lines  was  so  overwhelming  that  the  committee 
hastily  withdrew  the  bill  and  revised  it  by  eliminating  this  portion 
of  It.    The  bill  as  revised  was  presented  to  the  Legislature  both 

(9) 


'« 


) 
ll 


'f: 


in  1915  and  1916  but  it  was  not  reported  out  of  conimitte(\  This 
committee  for  a  few  months  after  its  appointment  carried  on  an 
Educational  Campaign  as  to  the  food  values  of  various  products. 

(d)— WICKS  LEGISLATIVE  COMMITTEE. 

The  Legislature  in  1916  appointed  a  Food  Investigating  Com- 
mittee. The  Chairman  of  this  Committee  is  the  Honorable  Charles 
W.  Wicks. 

(e)— GOVERNOR  WHITMAN'S  MARKET  COMMISSION. 

The  latest  commission  appointed  to  investigate  the  price  of 
Foodstuffs  was  a  commission  appointed  by  Governor  Whitman  of 
which  Mr.  George  W.  Perkins  is  also  chairman. 

It  is  the  **Joint  Report'^  of  Mayor  Mitchell's  Committee,  the 
Wicks  Legislative  Committee  and  Governor  Whitman's  Commis- 
sion that  the  writer  is  analyzing  in  this  pamphlet. 

Permit  me  here  to  point  out  that  the  ^^  Joint  Report"  of  Gover- 
nor Whitman's  Market  Commission  and  others  has  reported  its 
findings  within  the  short  space  of  five  years  from  the  report  of  the 
commission  appointed  by  Governor  Dix  and  their  conclusions  are 
essentially  opposite. 

Governor  Dix's  Commission  reported  in  favor  of  new  large 
retail  units;  the  *^ Joint  Report"  rather  favors  the  present  retail 
unit.    Governor  Dix's  Commission  favored  the  improvement  of 
present  wholesale  food  terminals  with  private  money,  and  con- 
demned Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets;  the  *' Joint  Re- 
port" favors  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets  with  their 
huge  cost.    Governor  Dix's  Commission  was  silent  as  to  the  crea- 
tion of  a  State  Food  Public  Service  Commission;  the  ** Joint 
Report"  says  the  fundamental  cause  of  the  high  price*  of  food- 
stuffs is  the  lack  of  a  comprehensive  Market  Department.    Now 
which  commission  is  right?    Why  not  Governor  Dix's  Commis- 
sion?   The  lesson  of  all  this  is  that  as  these  learned  doctors  dis- 
agree within  so  short  a  period  of  time  it  is  well  for  the  State  to 
proceed  very  cautiously  in  turning  from  its  historic  policy  to 
Socialism.    Permit  the  report  to  lie  on  the  table  for  four  or  five 
years  and  be  thoroughly  digested.    This  is  an  important  matter. 
A  period  of  four  or  five  years  is  a  very  short  period  of  time  in  the 
history  of  mankind. 

(10) 


(f)— STATE  DEPARTMENT  OP  FOODS 
AND  MARKETS. 

This  Department  was  created  during  Governor  Glynn's  adminis- 
tration just  a  few  days  before  the  close  of  the  Legislature  in 
1914.  The  powers  of  the  Department  are  exceedingly  broad.  In 
fact  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  State  Department  of  broader 
powers  unless  it  is  intended  to  have  the  municipality  engage  in 
private  business.  The  ** Joint  Report"  indicates  that  such  was 
in  the  mind  of  the  drafters  of  the  **  Joint  Report. "  Permit  me  to 
quote  just  once  from  the  '* Joint  Report." 

"And  it  might  be  advisable  in  working  out  this  plan  to  give 
such  a  City  Market  Department  power  to  place  the  shipment 
in  cold  storage  or  to  sell  it  at  public  auction." 
Here  is  a  plain  statement  that  the  city  might  perform  the  busi- 
ness of  private  merchants.    Fortunately  there  is  a  constitution  in 
the  land. 

in.    ALLEGED  CAUSES  OP  THE  HIGH  COST  OF 

FOODSTUFFS  AS  SET  FORTH  IN  THE  REPORT 

OF  GOVERNOR  WHITMAN'S  MARKET 

COMMISSION: 

The  *' Joint  Report"  purports  to  set  forth  the  causes  of  the  high 
price  of  foodstuffs.  The  causes  set  forth  divide  themselves  into 
purely  Dlusory  Causes  and  Tangible  Causes. 

(A)  Purely  Illusory  Causes:  These  are  (a)  Lack  of  compre- 
hensive Market  Department;  (b)  Lack  of  proper  Transportation 
and  Terminals;  (c)  Lack  of  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Mar- 
kets ;  (d)  Too  drastic  laws  as  to  monopolies. 

(a)— LACK  OF  A  COMPREHENSIVE 
MARKET  DEPARTMENT. 

The  report  recommends : 
(a)     The  creation  of  a  broadened  State  Market  Department 
under  a  State  Commissioner. 

That  each  municipality  of  the  State  be  given  adequate 
Market  Departments. 

The  creation  of  an  Interstate  Market  Department. 
A  State  Board  of  Foods  and  Markets  of  from  seven  to 
nine  members,  in  other  words  a  Foodstuffs  Public  Service 
Commission. 


(11) 


(b) 

(c) 
(d) 


!i 


»i 


Colonel  Sellers  never  had  a  grander  dream  than  that. 
Permit  me  to  quote  from  the  report  as  to  some  of  the  powers 
recommended  for  these  new  functionaries : 

For  the  new  State  Commissioner  the  report  recommends  that  he 
be  given  extensive  and  important  duties  indcifint^dy  enumerated 
in  eight  paragraphs  and  then  adds : 

'*To  this  end  the  broadest  possible  powers  should  be  given 
to  the  State  Department  of  Markets.*' 

As  to  the  Foodstuffs  Public  Service  Commission  the  report  says : 

''We  further  recommend  that  the  State  Board  be  given  as 
broad  power  as  possible  to  deal  with  the  questions  of  trans- 
portation, distribution,  terminals,  etc." 

The  two  transportation  public  service  commissions  of  the  State 
which  care  for  but  10%  of  the  average  man's  expenditures  spends 
annually  over  $3,000,000.00.  The  expenditure  for  foodstuffs 
in  the  State  of  New  York  can  roughly  be  stated  to  be  two  billion 
dollars  annually.  Foodstuffs  according  to  the  report  under  analy- 
sis are  of  four  times  the  value  of  transportation  and  much  more 
important.  With  these  facts  in  mind  may  I  not  exclaim — What 
possibilities  of  jobs !  What  possibilities  of  the  waste  of  State  and 
City  moneys!  What  possibilities  of  increasing  State  and  City 
Taxes!  What  possibilities  of  teaching  old-world  bureaucracy 
something  really  new  as  to  State  regulation  and  Governmental 
parentalism !    And  all  to  no  purpose ! ! 

As  to  what  the  municipalities  will  do  if  they  are  encouraged 
in  creating  ''Broadened  Market  Departments"  with  the  right  to 
build  markets  just  read  the  300  paged  report  on  Municipal  Whole- 
sale Terminal  Markets  issued  by  Mayor  Mitchell,  Mr.  George 
McAneny  and  Mr.  Cyrus  C.  Miller,  December  31,  1913,  and  read 
the  Pollock  Bill  passed  by  the  Legislature  early  in  1914  at  the 
suggestion  of  those  gentlemen.  That  bill  provided  for  five  Market 
Commissioners  for  New  York  City  with  the  most  intricate  and 
elaborate  machinery  conceivable.  It  started  the  machinery  for 
building  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets  for  New  York 
City  which  markets  would  in  my  judgment  have  cost  the  City  of 
New  York  more  than  $60,000,000.00  without  the  added  cost  of 
railroad  tracks  and  the  land  upon  which  to  place  them  and  would 
have  made  a  great  portion  of  the  lower  west  side  of  Manhattan  a 
new  large  freight  yard. 

(12) 


(b)— LACK  OF  TRANSPORTATION  AND  TERMINALS. 

The  ** Joint  Report''  refers  to  delays  on  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad  and  also  to  the  recent  building  of  large  passenger  ter- 
minals in  New  York  City.  It  is  difficult  to  follow  the  argument  of 
the  report  as  to  this  last,  but  it  seeois  to  be  this:  Since  large 
passenger  terminals  have  recently  been  built  in  New  York  City,  let 
the  State  or  the  City  build  large  food  terminals. 

Let  me  bring  the  following  to  the  reader's  attention: 

(a)  The  New  York  Central  Railroad  brings  into  New  York 
City  but  a  small  part  of  the  foodstuffs  consumed  there.  Certainly 
any  deficiencies  on  its  part  as  to  transportation  can  be  corrected 
either  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  or  the  present 
State  Public  Service  Commission  without  creating  a  new  Commis- 
sion with  concurrent  jurisdiction.  No  charges  of  delay  are  made 
against  the  other  great  railroads. 

(b)  These  other  railroads  which  bring  the  great  majority  of 
foodstuffs  into  New  York  have  large  and  efficient  freight  yards 
in  New  Jersey  and  they  also  have  the  use  of  that  vast  freight  yard 
with  its  myriad  tracks,  Hudson  River.  Some  of  them  have  splen- 
did food  terminals  (in  some  instances  capable  of  handling  300 
carlots  in  twenty-four  hours).  Improvements  to  these  terminals 
have  been  made,  are  being  made  and  can  be  made  at  a  minimum 
expense  without  the  expenditure  of  any  State  or  City  money. 
They  can  be  improved  with  private  funds  just  as  the  passenger 
terminals  have  been  built  with  private  funds. 

(c)  One  reason  why  terminals  have  not  been  improved  more 
than  they  have  been  in  this  city  is  squarely  chargeable  to  the  New 
York  City  Government  in  not  giving  to  railroads  sufficiently  long 
leases  to  justify  improvements.  First  one  city  official  indulges  in 
the  thought  that  he  will  move  certain  freight  to  a  different  sec- 
tion, another  official  changes  that  and  so  it  has  gone  with  the  net 
result  that  railroads  have  waited,  not  daring  to  spend  money  that 
they  otherwise  would  have  spent  in  making  improvements.  It 
needs  no  new  and  expensive  system  and  no  new  and  expensive 
Municipal  Terminal  Markets  to  change  this. 

(c)— LACK  OP  MUNICIPAL  WHOLESALE 
TERMINAL  MARKETS. 

This  is  the  third  Hlusory  cause  of  the  high  cost  of  foodstuffs. 
In  my  judgment  it  is  the  desire  for  these  markets  that  is  back  of 
this  entire  legislative  agitation.    I  am  confirmed  in  this  by  the 

(13) 


i«^ 


['':\ 


1 


1 
1 

1 

i 

i 

^■' J 

make-up  of  Mayor  Mitcheirs  Food  Supply  Committee,  by  the  fact 
that  the  State  Commissioner  of  Foods  and  Markets  is  coDimitted 
to  them  and  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Clifford  S.  Sims,  of  Governor 
Whitman's  Market  Commission,  according  to  the  news  items, 
stated  to  the  City  Club,  Saturday,  January  27th,  1917,  that  he 
had  worked  out  the  plans  for  one  of  these  markets.  The  **  Joint 
Report''  in  speaking  of  improvments  of  terminal  facilities  uses 
this  language : 

**In  this  connection,  Terminal  Wholesale  Markets  would 
help  materially." 

It  is  therefore  necessary  that  these  Municipal  Wholesale  Mar- 
kets be  discussed. 

(1)  Alleged  Savings:  A  good  way  to  test  the  merits  of  these 
markets  is  to  examine  the  claims  made  for  their  possibilities  in 
saving.  The  State  Commissioner  of  Foods  and  Markets  states  in  a 
recent  issue  of  the  NEW  YORK  EVENING  SUN : 

''Some  $800,000,000.00  worth  of  food  is  distributed  in  New 
York  City  annually.  It  has  been  estimated  that  $200,000,- 
000,00  would  be  the  annual  saving  undcT  this  direct  econo- 
mic scheme." 

Mr.  Cyrus  C.  Miller,  the  Chairman  of  Mayor  Gaynor's  Market 
Commission  and  father  of  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Market 
schemes,  in  the  Real  Estate  Magazine  of  November,  1914,  says : 

''It  is  estimated  that  the  value  of  foodstuffs  handled 
annually  in  the  City  of  New  York  amounts  to  $900,000,000.00 
and  that  ten  percent,  of  this  or  $90,000,000.00  could  be  saved 
annually  by  adequate  terminal  facilities. ' ' 

Here  is  a  difference  between  Mr.  Miller  and  the  State  Commis- 
sioner of  $110,000,000.00  annually  but  like  the  constitution,  "What 
is  that  between  friends?" 

Bear  in  mind  that  these  are  Wholesale  Markets;  that  Governor 
Dix's  Commission  found  that  "the  total  cost  of  wholesaling  in- 
cluding profits  is  probably  10%  and  that  certain  wholesale  units 
perform  this  function  for  from  3%  to  4% ;  also  that  these  markets 
will  be  (in  the  words  of  the  same  Commission)  '* subject  to  the 
permanent  disadvantage  of  municipal  management'*  and  then  ask 
yourself  the  question.  Can  it  be  that  the  City  or  State  by  erecting 
a  building  of  brick,  mortar  and  steel,  that  is  by  becoming  a  land- 
lord, will  be  able  to  totally  eliminate  the  cost  of  carrying  on  the 

(14) 


intricate  wholesale  business  of  New  York  City  and  in  addition 
cause  each  consumer  to  be  paid  a  dividend  of  15%  annually  on  his 
purchases.  I  am  free  to  confess  that  such  claims  tax  my  patience 
and  I  will  let  the  reader  answer  that  question.  But  to  drive 
home  the  error  of  such  statements  note  the  following :  The  family 
foodstuff  budget  of  the  average  family  is  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing items  and  the  percentage  of  each  item  to  the  total  budget  is 
placed  opposite  each  item : 

Meats  and  meat  products 38.9% 

Fish 5.39^ 

Milk   8% 

Butter,  eggs,  cheese,  poultry 16.8% 

Groceries 22.6% 

Potatoes - 3% 

Other  Vegetables - 2.7% 

Fruits 2.7% 

Is  it  likely  that  the  Meat  Distributing  Industry  that  has 
22  central  distributing  plants  throughout  New  York  City  would 
give  up  these  plants  and  go  to  these  Municipal  Markets?  Is  it 
likely  that  the  Butter,  Egg,  Cheese  and  Poultry  Industry  which 
controls  these  articles  by  financing  the  shipper  and  which  indus- 
try is  as  firmly  located  as  the  Meat  Industry  would  give  up  their 
present  market  to  go  to  these  Municipal  piles  of  brick,  mortar  and 
steel?  Similar  questions  could  be  asked  regarding  other  Food- 
stuff Industries.  And  the  Milk  Industry,  is  it  contemplated  that 
it,  with  its  specialized  machinery,  will  patronize  the  markets? 
Not  exceeding  5%  of  the  Foodstuffs  consumed  in  New  York  City 
would  be  available  for  these  markets.  Thus  the  $200,000,000.00 
and  $90,000,000.00  gently  fade  away.  Require  Mr.  Miller  and  the 
State  Commissioner  to  name  in  detail  how  these  savings  are  to  be 
attained.    I  have  never  seen  a  prospectus  of  this. 

(2)  Cost:  Now  as  to  the  cost  of  these  markets.  The  State 
Commissioner  in  the  NEW  YORK  EVENING  POST  of  December 
16, 1916,  says : 

''Such  a  market  could  be  founded  for  $3,000,000.00  to 
$5,000,000.00  in  a  great  centre  like  New  York  City.*' 

And  again  he  said  in  the  NEW  YORK  EVENING  SUN  of  the 
issue  of  January  13,  1917 : 

''Ten  to  twenty  millions  would  fully  equip  the  markets." 
Which  sum  is  correct?    $3,000,000.00  or  $20,000,000.00? 

(15) 


J 


Ilii 


Mayor  Gaynor's  Market  Coiiimission  estimated  that  th(^  cost  of 
such  a  Market  in  Manhattan  Borough  would  be  $10,000,000.00 
and  in  the  Bronx  Borough  $8,500,000.00  (together  $18,500,000.00) 
without  the  cost  of  railroad  sidings  and  the  land  upon  which  they 
would  be  laid.  That  estimate  was  made  before  the  war.  No  facts 
are  given  as  to  how  that  estimate  was  made  up.  I  believe  it  was 
a  guess.  Bearing  in  mind  that  it  is  to  be  a  municipal  enterprise 
it  would  be  well  to  double,  treble  and  quadruple  the  sum.  Add  to 
that  result  the  cost  of  land  for  railroad  sidings.  Throw  into  the 
computation  the  cost  of  these  Terminal  Markets  in  the  three  Bor- 
oughs of  Kings,  Queens  and  Richmond  making  due  allowance  for 
the  agile  figuring  that  will  be  done  by  the  public  officials  of  those 
three  boroughs  when  they  see  their  sisters,  Manhattan  and  Bronx, 
receive  fat  plums.  What  is  the  total  sum  1  The  total  cost  of  New 
York  City's  new  Court  House  and  site,  that  wonder  of  efficient 
city  administration,  would  dwindle  into  insignificance  in  com- 
parison. 

(3)  Details  of  Construction:  I  have  never  seen  any  details  of 
these  Markets  that  were  intelligible.  The  RURAL  NEW  YORK- 
ER of  the  issue  of  January  6,  1917,  purports  to  give  a  diagram 
of  one  of  these  markets  but  it  is  the  merest  outlin^^  Thn  impres- 
sion made  on  me  by  the  diagram  and  explanation  was  that  they 
set  forth  a  scheme  of  an  entirely  new  marketing  system  rather 
than  a  plan  for  a  new  Municipal  "Wholesale  Terminal  Market: 
A  system  wherein  all  middlemen  would  be  eliminated  by  having 
the  farmer's  co-operative  association  ship  to  the  municipal  market 
which  would  act  as  agent  in  selling  to  th(^  retailers.  Mayor 
Gaynor's  Market  Commission  lias  published  more  details  but  they 
also  are  the  merest  outlines. 

Certainly  when  spending  tens  of  millions  and  possibly  liundreds 
of  millions  it  would  be  well  not  to  leave  the  citizens  in  any  doubt 
as  to  what  is  to  be  built. 

(4)  Handling  and  Congestion:  It  is  said  for  these  proposed 
markets  that  they  would  reduce  handling  and  congestion.  Let 
us  examine  these  claims.  It  is  difficult  to  dig  out  from  the  claims 
of  the  proDioters  anything  precise  as  to  the  way  these  markets 
are  to  handle  freight.  The  most  definite  statements  I  will  now 
give. 

The  State  Commissioner  in  a  recent  newspaper  article  says : 

'*  Carload  lots  from  all  railroads  will  run  direct  into  this 
market.  Supplies  from  boats  will  move  by  automatic  machin- 
ery direct  into  the  market.    Here  the  bulk  shipments  will  be 

(16) 


broken.    Refrigerated  rooms  will  protect  the  perishable  pro- 
ducts, and  canners  will  preserve  the  tenderer  goods." 
That  reads  beautifully ! 
Mayor  Gaynor's  Market  Commission  says: 

'*The  methods  by  which  the  freight  at  this  terminal  in- 
bound and  outbound  will  be  most  economically  and  expedi- 
tiously handled  are  not  discussed  by  us  at  this  time." 

*'Both  incoming  and  outgoing  freight  would  be  handled  at 
this  terminal. ' ' 

Everything  of  a  practical  nature  in  this  scheme  of  spending  tens 
of  millions  nay  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  is  left  to  the  imagi- 
nation. One  important  statement  is  made  and  that  is  that  it  will 
be  a  terminal  (as  it  must  be)  for  outbound  freight.  In  other 
words  these  terminals  vitally  affect  not  only  the  foodstuff  industry 
but  the  shipping  of  every  important  industry  of  New  York  City. 

Permit  me  to  examine  this  matter  of  handling  critically.  I  will 
take  the  Wholesale  Terminal  Market  planned  by  Mayor  Gaynor's 
Market  Commission  for  Manhattan  as  an  example.  It  is  to  be 
located  near  14th  Street  and  North  River. 

Foodstuffs  must  come  to  Manhattan  by  cars  and  by  steamships. 
When  by  carlots  these  cars  either  must  arrive  in  Manhattan  at  the 
present  railroad  food  terminals,  then  be  shifted  on  to  a  marginal 
railway  (not  yet  built  or  even  planned)  and  then  taken  by  this 
marginal  railway  to  the  proposed  market ;  or  these  cars  must  be 
taken  by  floats  to  a  pier  located  at  the  proposed  market. 

When  the  foodstuffs  arrive  by  steamship  the  steamships  must 
either  discharge  at  their  present  piers  and  the  foodstuffs  be  re- 
loaded onto  cars  and  then  hauled  on  the  marginal  railroad  to  the 
market  or  the  steamship  must  discharge  at  the  pier  located  at  the 
market. 

Now  just  contemplate  the  result !  If  the  foodstuffs  are  sent  via 
the  cars  on  marginal  railway  into  the  market  it  means  more 
handling.  In  the  case  of  railroad  companies  it  means  an  addi- 
tional switching  charge.  In  the  case  of  steamships  it  means 
discharging  the  cargo  to  be  reloaded  on  to  cars.  A  marginal 
railway  for  your  market  would  not  only  be  necessary  but  you 
would  create  an  immense  new  freight  yard  on  lower  Manhattan. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  it  would  require  the  space  of  eight 
square  city  blocks  to  accomodate  the  switching  necessary  for  one 
present  food  terminal.  Thirty  railroad  piers  along  the  North 
River  would  at  that  rate  require  240  square  city  blocks.  A  land 
car  lot  delivery  on  Manhattan  Island  as  is  proposed  by  the  pro- 
moters of  the  huge  markets  is  unthinkable. 

(17) 


-1 


If  on  the  other  hand  It  is  contemplated  that  iloats  carrying  cars, 
and  steamships  shall  unload  at  piers  connect(id  with  the  market 
you  must  have  the  same  number  of  piers  that  we  now  have  and  we 
are  just  where  we  started,  excepting  that  the  marginal  railway 
would  be  necessary. 

If  a  delivery  was  attempted  to  be  made  on  one  pier  or  a  few 
piers  adjacent  to  the  proposed  market  there  would  be  lines  of  car 
floats  and  steamships,  East,  West,  North  and  South  on  North 
River  that  would  remind  one  of  the  automobile  congestion  on  a 
gala  night  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House.  And  on  top  of  all 
this  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  all  present  food  terminals  are 
busy  shipping  outbound  freight.  All  this  outbound  freight  would 
necessarily  have  to  be  shipped  (as  contemplated  by  the  pro- 
moters) through  the  proposed  market.  If  there  is  congestion 
now,  congestion  would  be  increased  tenfold,  yes  one  hundred  fold 
under  these  proposed  markets. 

There  is  only  one  transportation  line  that  would  be  free  from 
the  trouble  depicted  above.  That  line  is  the  New  York  Central. 
The  proposed  Manhattan  market  would  be  located  on  the  line  of 
its  tracks  and  it  necessarily  would  have  a  monopoly  of  the  Man- 
hattan Market  which  I  have  used  as  an  illustration.  The  Man- 
hattan Market  would  thus  be  a  private  Terminal  Market. 

I  believe  much  of  the  cry  about  congestion  has  arisen  from  con- 
gestion of  trucks  at  Pier  29,  North  River  at  the  height  of  the 
vegetable  and  fruit  seasons  during  part  of  May  and  June  in  each 
year.  No  healthy  business  is  without  congestion  at  some  time. 
In  addition  the  total  value  of  foodstuffs  handled  at  Pier  29  North 
River  during  the  six  weeks  in  question  is  ridiculously  small  in 
proportion  to  the  total  food  supply  of  the  city.  This  matter  can 
be  readily  corrected  and  I  am  informed  that  it  would  have  been 
corrected  ere  this  at  the  railroad  company's  (expense  had  the  city 
administration  given  the  lessee  of  the  pier  a  h^ase  sufficiently  long 
in  time  to  justify  the  expense.  I  am  also  informed  that  the  rail- 
road has  recently  received  such  a  lease  and  that  it  will  now  make 
extensive  improvements.  This  whole  outcry  about  congestion 
circles  around  not  more  than  5%  of  the  food  supply  of  the  city. 
Congestion  has  greatly  decreased  on  the  lower  west  side  of  Man- 
hattan. Ask  any  merchant  shipping  there  fifteen  years  ago,  what 
the  conditions  then  were. 

(5)  Cartage:  Much  is  said  about  saving  cartage  by  the  pro- 
moters of  these  markets.  Let  me  examine  tliat  critically.  Cart- 
age connected  with  wholesaling  is  a  negligible  item  so  far  as  in- 


creasing the  cost  to  the  consumer.  In  my  judgment  it  is  much 
under  1%  of  the  consumer's  price.  I  will  give  a  few  illustrations : 
Take  oranges  retailing  at  35  cents  per  dozen  (a  low  price),  the 
wholesale  cartage  is  less  than  1/10  of  1%  on  the  retail  price. 
Take  a  tub  of  butter  selling  at  wholesale  at  $15.00  per  tub.  The 
wholesale  cartage  is  less  than  2/10  of  1%  on  the  wholesale  price. 
Take  a  case  of  eggs  selling  at  $7.00  per  case  wholesale.  The 
wholesale  cartage  is  about  one-half  of  1%.  If  you  take  the  retail 
price  of  butter  and  eggs  the  cartage  is  even  more  negligible. 
That  was  the  view  of  Governor  Dix's  Commission.  I  quote  from 
its  report : 

**The  cost  of  trucking  while  very  large  in  the  aggregrate 
does  not  add  appreciably  to  the  cost  of  the  given  items." 

Furthermore  fully  90%  of  the  foodstuffs  arriving  by  our  present 
Wholesale  Food  Terminals  are  sold  from  those  Terminals,  thus 
eliminating  a  large  part  of  the  Wholesale  Cartage. 

And  be  it  remembered  there  would  be  the  same  cartage  from  the 
proposed  markets  as  there  is  now. 

(6)  Alleged  Self -Sustaining  Features  of  These  Markets :  The 
State  Commissioner  in  a  recent  article  in  the  EVENING  POST 
MAGAZINE  states  in  reference  to  his  proposed  Wholesale  Ter- 
minal market : 

''It  would,  in  my  opinion,  pay  for  itself  in  short  time.*' 

In  another  article  which  I  have  mislaid  he  says  that  it  will  pay 
for  itself  in  a  year.  Recall  that  he  has  also  said  as  I  quoted  above 
that  it  would  take  *  'ten  to  twenty  millions ' '  to  fully  equip  it.  My 
recollection  is  that  when  he  stated  that  it  would  pay  for  itself  in 
a  year  he  had  just  made  the  statement  that  it  would  cost  $3,000,- 
000.00  to  build  this  market. 

Mr.  Cyrus  Miller,  Chairman  of  Mayor  Gaynor's  Market  Com- 
mission in  a  letter  to  Mayor  Mitchell  makes  this  statement  : 

"These  markets  will  be  an  excellent  investment  for  the  city 
because  they  are  self-supporting  and  show  a  profit.'* 

Again  it  is  difficult  to  use  parliamentary  language  in  dealing 
with  such  claims. 

These  statements  mean  that  there  will  be  sufficient  income  to 
pay  the  following  items  and  in  addition  show  a  profit: 


-I 


(18) 


(19) 


Cost  of  operation, 

Interest  on  investment, 

Insurance, 

Taxes, 

Repairs, 

Depreciation. 

Now  there  is  absolutely  no  foundation  for  the  statement  that 
these  markets  will  be  self-supporting  to  say  nothing  of  their  show- 
ing a  profit.  How  will  tenants  be  secured  for  these  markets? 
No  sane  man  would  say  that  the  Meat  industry  or  Butter,  Egg, 
Cheese  and  Poultry  industries  would  go  into  these  mark(»ts.  .  You 
need  only  know  how  they  are  handled  and  financed  to  eliminate 
them  from  consideration.  The  only  things  that  might  be  available 
for  these  markets  would  be  a  certain  amount  of  fruit  and  vege- 
tables amounting  to  not  over  5%  of  the  Food  (Consumption  of  New 
York  City.  Actually  a  very  small  portion  of  that  5%  would  be 
available  when  one  considers  how  it  is  financed.  Municipal  mar- 
kets are  a  burden  to  the  municipality  whether  they  be  retail  or 
wholesale.  The  history  of  municipal  enter])rises  is  a  trail  of  in- 
competency, waste  and  graft.  Look  at  oiii-  present  municipal 
markets!  They  are  an  expense  to  the  CUty  of  New  York. 
They  render  no  service.  Why  will  a  Municipal  Wholesale 
Terminal  Market  be  different  ?  Read  what  Mr.  J.  W.  Sullivan, 
a  skilled  investigator  says  as  to  this  in  his  book  recently 
published  entitled  *' Markets  for  the  People."  He  shows  therein 
that  municipal  markets  wholesale  and  retail  both  here  and  abroad 
are  a  burden  to  the  municipality  and  a  failure.  In  a  letter  to  me 
dated  March  8th,  1915  when  we  were  fighting  the  same  proposi- 
tion before  the  Legislature  Mr.  Sullivan  says : 

'*Mr.  Millers's  plan  of  Wholesale  Municipal  Markets  is  not 
resultant  upon  consideration  of  these  fundamental  facts. 
It  is  founded  on  false  assumptions.  It  is  not  the  logical  con- 
sequence of  a  showing  of  unnecessary  costs  in  wholesaling, 
with  a  detailed  demonstration  of  effective  methods  in 
lowering  those  costs.  In  so  far  as  it  is  based  on  an 
attempt  to  prove  the  proposed  markets  would  "pay**  by 
citing  European  experience  with  wholesale  markets,  the 
proofs  I  have  offered  are  against  it  conclusively." 

And  as  to  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets  abroad  when 
any  one  loosely  states  that  they  are  a  success  just  pin  him  down  to 
facts.     There  is  no  city  in  the  world  that  has  the  wonderfully 


equipped  wholesale  markets  that  New  York  City  now  has  and 
without  cost  to  the  city.  When  the  facts  are  critically  examined 
Europe  has  much  to  learn  from  us  in  this  respect. 

If  these  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets  be  such  a  paying  proposi- 
tion they  would  be  a  splendid  investment  for  one  or  more  of  our 
captains  of  industry.  There  could  be  no  objection  to  any  individ- 
ual *s  investing  his  money  in  these.  This  would  disarm  all  opposi- 
tion and  would  be  a  gratifying  solution.  The  public  would 
applaud  the  patriotism  of  any  man  or  any  group  of  individuals 
that  will  invest  his  or  their  twenty  to  two  hundred  millions  in 
this  way.  The  worst  that  could  happen  would  be  that  it  would 
help  to  distribute  their  wealth  and  this  would  be  applying  Social- 
istic doctrine. 

(7)  Waste:  Some  waste  is  inevitable,  particularly  in  such 
highly  perishable  products  as  lettuce,  strawberries,  tomatoes,  as- 
paragus, watermelons,  etc.,  on  hot  days.  The  waste  of  these  is 
because  of  the  character  of  the  commodity.  They  cannot  be 
placed  in  cold  storage.  They  must  be  consumed.  They  are  hand- 
led with  extraordinary  expedition.  The  total  is  a  small  percent- 
age of  the  total  foodstuffs  sold  in  New  York  City.  The  same  waste 
would  inevitably  exist  under  the  new  plan  of  wholesale  markets. 

(8)  Fundamental  Obstacle  to  the  Proposed  Municipal  Whole- 
sale Terminal  Markets :  The  configuration  of  Manhattan  Island 
and  the  present  railroad  situation  are  such  that  it  is  impracti- 
cable and  impossible  to  give  a  land  carlot  delivery  on  Manhattan 
Island  as  proposed.  For  a  market  as  proposed  to  be  a  success  all 
railroads  and  steamships  must  have  access.  That  is  a  physical 
impossibility  on  Manhattan  Island.  Furthermore  the  expense 
attending  the  erection  would  be  so  large  as  to  be  prohibitive.  The 
New  York  Central  is  the  only  railroad  that  could  give  a  land 
carlot  delivery  to  the  proposed  Manhattan  Market.  That  road 
would  have  a  monopoly.  I  hold  no  brief  for  any  road.  I  merely 
state  the  fact.  This  talk  of  the  advisability  of  giving  a  land  car- 
lot  delivery  is  a  great  humbug.  Why  is  it  that  the  New  York 
Central  which  has  the  only  freight  station  on  Manhattan  Island 
instead  of  bringing  butter  and  eggs  to  its  St.  John*s  Park  land 
terminal  in  the  wholesale  district,  puts  these  products  on  floats 
and  carries  them  to  a  railroad  pier  at  the  foot  of  Harrison  Street, 
the  same  as  other  railroads  ?  The  reason  is,  it  is  the  most  efficient 
delivery. 


(20) 


(21) 


fir: 


t 


(9)  Present  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets:  It  is  necessary 
and  advisable  to  now  describe  our  present  efficient  Wholesale 
Terminal  Markets.  The  present  Wholesale  Market  is  composed 
of  a  large  number  of  railroad  and  steamship  piers  projecting  into 
the  Hudson  River.  These  piers  are  like  the  wings  of  a  large  build- 
ing if  the  market  were  entirely  a  land  structure.  In  your  imagi- 
nation view  these  piers  with  a  long  building  of  concrete  and  steel 
over  them  and  you  have  a  Wholesale  Terminal  Market  somewhat 
similar  to  the  one  proposed.  It  is  located  on  the  lower  west  side  of 
Manhattan.  It  is  the  result  of  a  natural  growth  according  to 
economic  law.  It  has  not  cost  the  city  any  money.  It  has  the 
Hudson  River  for  a  great  railroad  yard.  This  great  railroad  yard 
upon  which  tracks  may  be  shifted  indefinitely  performs  the 
service  of  a  tract  of  land  far  larger  than  itself.  The  market  is  in 
the  center  of  the  Metropolitan  District.  It  is  directly  east  of  the 
large  New  Jersey  freight  terminals  and  directly  west  of  Brooklyn. 
A  line  drawn  east  and  west  from  the  large  New  Jersey  terminals 
to  Brooklyn  bisects  this  district.  This  district  is  nearest  to  Rich- 
mond. It  is  much  nearer  to  the  Bronx,  and  (iueena  and  the  large 
cities  of  New  Jersey  to  which  great  quantities  of  food  are  sent 
daily  from  this  district  than  it  was  five  years  ago  on  account  of 
the  enormous  growth  of  the  use  of  motor  trucks.  A  circle  drawn 
with  this  district  at  its  center  shows  that  it  is  practically  at  an 
equal  distance  from  the  large  centers  of  the  population  of  this 
Metropolis.  In  this  district  are  all  the  terminals  of  all  the  food 
carrying  roads  and  steamship  lines ;  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  all  the 
city's  refrigeration  with  nearly  all  of  its  streets  piped  for  refrig- 
eration ;  all  the  important  ferries  and  all  the  subway  tubes.  The 
bridges  to  Brooklyn  with  one  exception  are  adjacent  to  this  dis- 
trict and  the  proposed  vehicle  tube  to  the  State  of  New  Jersey 
is  to  be  at  Canal  Street.  A  new  trolley  line  connects  Desbrosses 
Street  Ferry  with  Brooklyn,  and  a  crosstown  subway  is  planned 
through  Canal  Street  to  West  Street.  The  present  market  is  the 
most  wonderful  in  the  world. 

And  over  and  above  all  we  now  have  the  most  wonderful  Belt 
Line  to  serve  the  present  market,  built  by  nature.  I  can  do  no 
better  than  describe  it  in  the  language  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Lincoln, 
Manager  of  the  Traffic  Bureau  of  the  Merchant 's  Association : 

''The  waters  of  the  harbor  and  the  rivers  and  waterways 
connected  with  it  form  a  complete  belt  line  for  the  handling 
of  Commerce  by  the  use  of  car  floats,  lighters  and  steamers 
to  the  industries  and  freight  stations  along  the  waterfront, 

(22) 


and  that  no  other  community  has  a  more  extensive  or  com- 
plete belt  line,  the  maintenance  of  which  does  not  fall  upon 
the  users.  *' 

Some  of  the  reformers  complain  that  products  ultimately 
used  in  the  Bronx  pass  by  the  Bronx  to  the  present  Wholesale 
Terminal  Market  only  to  be  sent  back  there  for  consumption. 
Let  me  answer  this.  Every  carload  contains  many  grades.  Some 
of  these  grades  are  taken  by  Brookyln,  some  by  the  Bronx  and 
some  by  Manhattan.  It  is  essential  that  there  be  a  distributing 
point.  If  a  carload  of  some  products  were  sent  to  the  Bronx  or 
Brooklyn  the  result  would  be  as  the  trade  is  not  there  the  grades 
unsuited  to  those  places  would  have  to  go  to  the  dump.  As  it  is 
the  buyers  congregate  in  the  central  wholesale  market  in  Man- 
hattan. Furthermore  a  large  amount  of  this  produce  is  shipped 
to  outside  points  and  as  the  railroads  are  right  in  this  wholesale 
district  they  can  take  the  produce  and  merchandise  that  is  meant 
for  outside  points  early  in  the  morning  so  that  outside  points  can 
get  the  produce  in  some  instances  for  breakfast.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  economic  waste  in  handling  the  goods  from  the  whole- 
sale market  as  it  is  today.  The  goods  come  there  and  are  delivered 
from  there  because  of  economic  necessity.  It  is  the  result  of  a 
gradual  efficient  growth. 

No  one  compels  these  products  to  come  to  the  present  Wholesale 
Market.  They  come  through  the  operation  of  economic  laws.  In 
fact,  **bulk''  products  such  as  bulk  apples,  potatoes,  onions,  tur- 
nips, etc.,  do  not.  These  ''bulk"  products  are  now  delivered  in 
car  lots  to  railroad  terminals  in  all  parts  of  New  York. 

The  railroads  now  have  car  lot  delivery  stations  in  New  York 
City  to  which  any  carlots  can  now  be  delivered  if  the  shipper  or 
buyer  desires.  There  are  at  least  126  wholesale  terminals  in 
New  York  City  to  which  carlots  of  all  kinds  of  Farm  Produce 
can  now  be  sent.    I  will  enumerate  some  of  these  stations : 

New  York  Central. 

9  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 

1  130th  Street  station  (Harlem  uptown,) 

1  Melrose  Junction  Station  (North  of  Harlem  River, 

7  Brooklyn  delivery  stations. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad. 

5  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 
1  Harlem  '*        station, 

4  Brooklyn  "       stations. 


(23) 


Erie  Railroad. 

9  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 
1  Harlem  '*        station, 

9  Brooklyn  *'        stations. 

West  Shore  Railroad. 

8  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 
7  Brooklyn  **        stations. 

Lehigh  Valley  Railroad. 

4  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 

1  Harlem  *<        station, 

2  Bronx  *'        stations, 

9  Brooklyn  *'        stations. 

Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  R.  R. 

4  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 
1  Harlem  **        station, 
6  Brooklyn  "        stations, 

1  Long  Island  City  delivery  station. 

Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey. 

5  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 

1  Bronx  *'        station,  ' 

6  Brooklyn  "        stations. 

New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  RaUroad. 

6  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 

2  Long  Island  City  delivery  stations, 

7  Brooklyn  delivery  stations, 
2  Bronx  '*         stations. 

New  York,  Ontario  &  Western  Railroad. 
2  Manhattan  delivery  stations, 
5  Brooklyn  "        stations. 

There  are  probably  more  than  those  enumerated  above 
I  wish  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  reason  any  commodity 
comes  past  the  Bronx  to  the  present  Wholesale  Terminal  Market 
on  lower  Manhattan  to  be  broken  up  into  smaller  h>ts,  is  because 
It  IS  sent  there  by  the  operation  of  economic  laws. 

(d)— LAW  AS  TO  MONOPOLY: 

A  further  illusory  cause  of  the  high  cost  of  living  as  stated  by 
the  Joint  Report-  is  the  present  policy  of  the  State  toward 
monopolies  Under  a  dissertation  on  ^Cooperation-  the  -Joint 
Keport  indulges  in  a  hazy  abstruse  presentment  of  the  evils  of 
our  present  laws  on  combinations.     It  is  difficult  to  form  an 

(24) 


opinion  as  to  the  entire  meaning  of  the  report  in  this  respect 
except  that  it  seems  to  advise  a  **riot"  of  regulation  and  super- 
vision by  the  State  that  would  do  justice  to  the  imagination  of 
Don  Quixote. 

I  quite  agree  with  the  ''Joint  Report**  when  it  says: 


if 


In  anything  that  is  done  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
remedy  provided  does  not  prove  to  be  worse  than  the  ills 
sought  to  be  cured.  *  * 

Indeed  yes ;  let  us — 

•  •  *  **  rather  bear  those  ills  we  have 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of.'* 

I  feel  that  the  Governor  *s  Market  Commission  itself  believes 
that  it  is  in  very  deep  water  on  this  subject. 

One  thing  is  sure,  farmers  do  not  refuse  to  cooperate  because 
of  present  laws.  They  do  not  cooperate  simply  because  they 
have  not  the  disposition  to  do  so.  You  will  secure  cooperation 
among  them  w^hen  you  change  that  disposition.  And  that  takes 
time  and  patience. 

Mr.  Perkins  at  the  meeting  of  Wholesale  Food  Distributors 
on  January  26th,  1917  above  mentioned  stated  that  his  chief 
interest  in  the  proposed  Market  legislation  is  in  that  portion  of 
it  pertaining  to  changing  the  law  so  as  to  legally  permit  ''co- 
operation'* in  all  lines  of  business.  If  that  be  the  case  it  would 
be  a  simple  matter  to  amend  the  Donnelly  Act  (the  statute 
complained  of)  and  omit  all  the  remaining  recommendation  of 
the  "Joint  Report.**  There  is  no  justification  in  linking-up  with 
a  plan  to  change  laws  as  to  combinations,  unscientific  and  un- 
just legislation  affecting  a  great  private  industry. 

(B)  Tangible  Causes  of  the  High  Cost  of  Foodstuffs  as  Stated 
by  the  "Joint  Report":  I  have  in  the  preceding  page  dealt 
with  the  illusion  in  the  "Joint  Report'*  as  to  the  high  cost  of 
living.  I  am  pleased  to  be  able  to  come  to  something  that 
appeals  to  the  intellect.  I  feel  with  the  editorial  writer  in  the 
EVENING  POST  when  he  says  the  following : 

"This  (referring  to  the  statement  of  the  "Joint  Report" 
that  the  foremost  cause  of  the  high  cost  of  living  is  "the 
lack  of  a  comprehensive  Market  Department*')  can  hardly 
be  taken  seriously  when  it  goes  on  immediately  after  to 
speak  of  short  crops  and  the  big  exports  to  Europe. ' ' 

(25) 


^"1 


\ 


{a)-EXCESSIVE  EXPORTATION  AMD 
SHORT  CROPS: 

report  itseH         ^  ''°  ^°  '^°  ''^"^'"  '^'''  'l^of'  from  the 

tic  nrrcisr  '^^^  ^^  '^-^^^^  ^™-<^  -  p-^- 

101?^^  average  yearly  production  of  wheat  from  IQin  f. 

inevitable  that  prices  would  advance  »' 
again : 

(b)-IGNORANCE  OP  THE  PUBLIC  ON  THE 
QUESTION  OP  FOODSTUFFS  • 

the  cost  of  living.  ^  materially  increases 

(c)-PAILURE  OP  THE  PUBLIC  TO  ACT  UP  TO 
THE  LIGHT  THAT  IT  HAS  • 

(26) 


IV.    THE  REMEDY  FOR  THE  HIGH  COST 

OP  LIVING: 

The  NEW  YORK  EVENING  SUN  in  an  editorial  of  November 
21,  1916  truly  says : 

''The  cost  of  living  is  the  most  vital  problem  in  the  lives 
of  a  majority  of  our  people  today,  but  it  is  also  the  most 
obscure  in  its  causes,  and  the  most  difficult  of  solution. 
The  SUN  does  not  pretend  to  know  how  it  can  be  solved. 
No  one  knows.'* 

However,  there  are  certain  pitfalls  of  which  we  can  beware  and 
there  are  certain  things  we  can  do  to  mitigate  conditions  to  some 
extent. 


^  r' 


(A)--NO  NEW  LEGISLATION  NEEDED: 

We  certainly  do  not  need  any  more  legislation  or  powers  given 
to  anyone.  Governor  Willis  of  Ohio  when  he  left  office  December 
31st  last  said  that  he  was  convinced  that  we  were  over-inspected 
and  that  the  State  was  over-oflacered.  The  public  is  looking  for 
a  Governor  in  office  who  has  enough  red  blood  in  his  veins  to 
make  that  smashing  statement  and  to  do  his  best  to  apply  it.  The 
man  that  has  the  courage  will  go  up  higher.  We  need  an  econom- 
ical administration,  not  talk,  but  deeds.  Let  the  Government 
be  an  example  of  economy  to  its  citizens.  Four  years  ago  the 
public  was  up  in  arms  against  cold  storage.  All  kinds  of  Legisla- 
tion was  enacted  to  suppress  it.  Now  it  is  recognized  as  a  bless- 
ing. If  this  ** Joint  Report''  were  permitted  by  the  Legislature 
to  lie  on  the  table  for  four  years  it  would  likewise  be  recognized 
at  the  end  of  that  time  that  its  recommendations  were  not  only 
unnecessary  but  harmful.  Outside  of  preventing  unfair  practices 
in  business,  which  is  amply  cared  for  by  present  laws,  there  is  no 
legal  remedy  for  the  high  cost  of  living.  You  might  as  well 
attempt  by  legislation  to  offset  the  Law  of  Gravitation. 

(B)— -ENCOURAGE  PRIVATE  BUSINESS: 

A  way  to  reduce  the  cost  of  living  is  to  encourage  private  busi- 
ness as  far  as  consistent  with  the  public  weal.  We  have  plenty 
of  laws  on  our  statute  books  to  cut  out  unfair  practices  and  we 
have  officers  of  the  law  to  enforce  them.  We  need  no  new  legisla- 
tion. Regarding  transportation  we  have  Public  Service  Com- 
missions to  attend  to  deficiencies  in  that. 


(27) 


-.-«■' 


(C)— EDUCATION: 

A  second  way  to  ameliorate  conditions  is  to  disseminate  knowl- 
edge concerning  production  and  distribution,  what  to  buy,  when 
to  buy,  how  to  buy,  the  food  values  of  different  foods  and  the  best 
and  cheapest  ways  to  prepare  these.  We  need  no  new  legislation 
to  accomplish  this.    Present  Departments  have  ample  authority. 

(D)— ACTION  BY  THE  PUBLIC: 

The  most  important  problem  is  to  get  the  public  to  act  up  to  the 
light  and  knowledge  that  is  given  to  it.  That  is  a  long  tedious 
job  and  cannot  be  accomplished  by  additional  leginlation.  It  is 
a  man's  job. 


V.    A  POPULAR  MISCONCEPTION: 

Suppose  the  Legislature  appropriates  the  millions  necessary 
for  a  full  application  of  the  plans  of  the  ** Joint  Report''  who 
pays  for  all  this?  The  average  non-property  holding  citizen 
thinks  that  somebody  else  pays  for  these  extravagances.  There- 
fore, he  often  is  indifferent  to  expcMisive  experiments.  If  a  bill 
were  presented  to  him  for  his  share  he  would  be  very  wide-awake 
and  there  would  be  less  extravagance  in  public  affairs.  But 
every  citizen  pays  a  share  of  all  these  appropriations  and  all 
these  extravagances  just  as  surely  as  if  the  bill  were  presented  to 
him  for  his  share.  He  pays  for  it  in  increased  rent,  increased 
cost  of  food,  clothing,  shoes  and  other  expenditures.  The  Legis- 
lature is  looking  for  new  sources  of  income  to  meet  proposed 
increased  expenditures;  the  Government  at  Washington  for  like 
purposes  proposes  an  unjust  and  probably  unconstitutional  ex- 
cess profits  tax.  One  seat  of  Government  is  an  example  for 
another  seat  of  Government  in  these  things.  Why  not  lop  off 
proposed  expenditures  that  mean  waste? 

VI.    A  WORD  AS  TO  NEW  YORK  CITY : 

The  Legislature  has  heretofore  saved  us  from  a  spendthrift 
city  administration  in  regard  to  this  wild  dream  of  Municipal 
Wholesale  Terminal  Markets.  Business  organizations  practically 
unanimously  and  business  men  almost  to  a  man  opposed  the 
efforts  and  plans  of  the  city  administration.  Their  first  attempt 
to  start  their  markets  was  open  and  above  board.  They  were  de- 
feated. They  subsequently  devised  subtler  ways.  They  pro- 
posed bills  to  the  Legislature  that  had  large  possibilities  and 

(28) 


potentialities  although  Municipal  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets 
were  not  directly  mentioned.  The  terms  ' '  Home  Rule ' '  and  *  *  Per- 
missive" and  ''Co-ordination"  were  tried  on  the  Legislature  in 
an  effort  to  cajole  the  Legislature  into  passing  these  various 
market  bills.  *  *  Home  Rule ' '  and  ' '  Permissive ' '  legislation  are  all 
right  when  you  have  a  city  administration  that  has  financial 
sense.  But  they  are  all  wrong  when  you  have  an  extravagant 
city  administration. 

Regarding  ''Co-ordination"  the  city  administration  wants  co- 
ordination that  means  new  departments  and  new  executives 
with  the  power  of  appointment  in  the  Mayor.  It  does  not  want 
co-ordination  under  some  one  present  department.  That  is  too 
economical.  Every  wagon  in  a  hilly  country  needs  a  good  brake. 
We  are  going  over  some  tremendous  hills  in  our  finances  in  New 
York  City.  Let  the  Legislature  be  the  brake.  Treat  the  city 
as  you  would  treat  any  other  spendthrift.  Keep  supervision 
over  it  until  it  can  manage  itself. 

Vn.    EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  PRESENT  METHODS 

OF  FOOD  DISTRIBUTION. 

A  brief  resume  of  present  methods  of  Food  Distribution  is 
necessary  as  the  result  of  Mr.  Perkins'  confessed  ignorance  of 
distributive  methods.  I  fully  believe  that  many  others  who 
signed  the  "Joint  Report"  are  equally  ignorant.  Another  reason 
for  such  a  resume  exists  in  the  many  extravagant  and  misleading 
statements  published  about  present  methods.  In  consequence, 
the  ordinary  individual  has  become  convinced  that  present 
methods  of  Food  Distribution  are  fundamentally  wrong.  The 
facts  are  that  there  are  few  departments  of  human  activity,  if 
any,  where  there  is  greater  efiiciency  than  to  be  found  on  the 
whole  in  the  present  methods  of  Food  Distribution.  Few  fields 
of  human  activity  have  a  greater  degree  of  specialization.  Ten 
or  fifteen  years  ago  it  was  quite  popular  to  attack  the  "middle- 
man" and  to  assert  that  he  was  "an  economic  error."  Today  we 
sometimes  hear  the  echo  of  that  cry.  But  sentiment  changed 
on  this  point.  The  best  economists  today  recognize  that  the 
"middleman"  is  a  necessity,  and  that  he  represents  a  high  degree 
of  specialization.  Each  class  of  middleman  performs  such  func- 
tions that  did  we  observe  the  same  degree  of  specialization  in  a 
shoe  factory  or  other  manufacturing  establishment  we  would 
applaud.  Not  long  ago  the  Merchants '  Association  of  New  York 
City  in  a  report  pointed  out  the  valuable  aid  the  much  abused 

(29) 


"middleman''  gives  in  broadening  present  markets  and  in  open- 
ing new  markets.    Contemplate  the  advance  made  in  food  distri- 
bution within  the  memory  of  even  the  younger  members  of  the 
foodstuff  industry.     The  consolidation  of  small  contributions  of 
farmers  into  car  lots,  the  furnishing  of  storage  facilities  at  ship- 
ping points,  the  introduction  of  the  ventilated  car,   and  the 
refrigerator  car,  the  fast  freight  service  of  the  Railroads  which 
in  the  case  of  perishable  commodities  is  almost  as  fast  as  the  pas- 
senger service,  the  system  of  reporting  by  telegraph  to  a  shipper 
the  location  of  his  car  at  different  points  in  transit  so  he  can 
divert  his  car  if  advantageous  so  to  do,  the  arrival  of  these 
products  in  New  York  City  practically  on  time  notwithstanding 
they  may  come  a  distance  of  3000  mil(^s,  the  arrival  in  New  York 
of  perishable  products  practically  sound  although  they  may  have 
come  thousands  of  miles,  the  present  efficient  cold  storage  facili- 
ties of  New  York  City,  the  bringing  of  perishables  to  the  New 
York  market  early  in  the  morning  and  the  distribution  of  vast 
quantities  of  perishable  products  to  all  parts  of  the  Metropolitan 
District  within  a  few  hours  of  their  arrival,  the  furnisliing  of 
financial  assistance  by  the  distributors  of  the  Metropolitan  Dis- 
trict to  the  grower  and  shipper.     With  all  that  I  have  said  in 
view  (and  I  have  not  related  all)  how  dare  any  man  say  that 
present    methods    of   Food    Distribution    are    not    wonderfully 
efficient !    Especially,  how  dare  any  man  ignorant  of  the  business 
advise  legislation!    I  am  not  asserting  that  present  methods  of 
food  distribution  are  perfect.    Nothing  human  is  perfect.    But  I 
do  assert  that,  on  the  whole,  present  methods  are  essentially 
sound.    And  I  do  assert  again  that  the  same  economic  laws  apply 
to  Food  Distribution  as  apply  to  any  other  industry  and  that 
neither  the  State  nor  the  Municipality  has  any  justification  in 
attempting  to  legislate  differently  with  respect  to  the  Food  In- 
dustry  than  with  respect  to  the  Steel  Industry.    Help  the  Food 
Distribution!     How?     By  treating  the  industry  as  you  treat 
other  private  business.    We  ask  no  preference.    Stop  this  cease- 
less endeavor  to  turn  this  industry  upside  down  by  appointing 
committees  with  members  ignorant  of  the  business  they  are  to 
investigate,  ignorant  before  they  begin  and  still  ignorant  when 
they  file  their  report! 

In  closing  I  will  quote  Mr.  A.  Y.  Shoemaker,  Sales  Manager 
of  the  East  Texas  Fruit  and  Truck  Growers  Association  as  to  the 
intricate  and  difficult  nature  of  perishable  Food  Distribution: 

(30) 


The  man  who  T^ill  be  able  to  evolve  a  plan  for  the  hand- 
ling of  fruits  and  vegetables  successfully,  under  any  and  all 
sorts  of  conditions,  will  have  immortalized  himself ;  will  have 
erected  a  monument  to  his  name  and  memory  that  wiU 
stand  as  long  as  such  crops  are  produced.'* 

Vm.    CONCLUSION. 

To  the  Reader:  Will  you  not  agree  with  me  that  if  my  facts 
are  true  and  my  logic  sound  all  the  proposed  market  legislation 
'craTw  U  '"f  ^^'^^'''  ^'^^^'  '^  consigned'to  the 
tive  then  the  only  question  before  us  is,  are  the  facts  set  forth 
herein  true  and  is  the  argument  sound?  The  writer  is  confident 
as  to  the  correctness  of  the  facts  stated,  he  is  confident 
that  If  you  accept  his  facts  you  will  agree  with  his  argument. 

The  many  proposals  to  the  Legislature  for  market  legislation 
his  year  put  me  in  mind  of  the  ^4amb>'  in  WaU  Street  T^^ 
lamb  receives  a  tip.  He  says  to  himself,  -If  I  buy  10  shares  I 
will  make  so  much.  If  I  lose,  why,  it  will  not  hurt  me. 'Then 
the  vision  grows.  He  then  says,  -If  this  tip  is  a  good  thing  with 
respect  to  ten  shares  why  not  for  twenty  shares.^'    This  argu 

and  sinker.  His  aggregate  purchases  have  finally  amounted  to 
several  hundred  shares.  The  result  is  that  he  Lsted  all  h  s 
money  and  is  bankrupt.  ^  ^'^ 

Let  us  take  care  that  in  this  proposed  market  legislation  with 
the  radical  proposals  contained  therein  we  do  not  waste  hu^e 
sums  of  money  with  the  net  result  not  bankrupted brarnonu 
ment  to  the  folly  of  those  who  have  proposed^Ld  the  State" 
officials  who  assist  in  its  enactment. 

Put  the  recommendations  of  the  -Joint  Report-  on  the  table 
for  four  years  and  they  wiU  then  appear  as  foolish  as  the  ave^]! 
comic  supplement.  average 


(31) 


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AUG  8     1926 


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FEB  20  1928 


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